Severe weather lashed large swaths of Victoria state on Tuesday, dumping torrents of rain and triggering gusts of more than 150 km/h. A 50-year-old rancher was killed in the storm, apparently struck by flying debris while on a tractor east of Melbourne.
The winds also spread bushfires in the Grampians region west of Melbourne, burning an unknown number of homes in a small town. At the height of the bad weather, 530,000 homes and businesses were without power, the Australian Energy Market Operator said.